Name: Anything But Minor
Rating: 4.00 (4 reviews)

3.5 Stars...

Anything But Minor is Kate Stewart's latest offering. After reading and enjoying Loving The White Liar (We even get a brief cameo of the couple of that book in this one) I knew that I had to add this book to my neverending "TO-READ" list...

"The woman had managed to piss me off twice since I met her and had made a fool of me. Oh yes, there would be fucking"

Alice left Ohio and her mother's overbearing attitude to strike out on an adventure and finally be the Alice she was meant to be. Everyday she discovers something new, which leads her to a baseball game and Dutch. Mistakenly sitting in Dutch's dead husband's seat a friendship is built which leads her to one sexy as sin pitcher Rafe Hembrey. Rafe is a bit of a playboy and not someone Alice dares to get involved with. Alas, fate has other plans and soon the sparks are flying between these two....

"Well, have faith, Rafe. If a fourteen-inch seahorse can be monogamous, I’m sure there’s hope for you."

I enjoyed this one a lot. Alice was one of the best heroine's I have read in AGES. She was funny, and quirky (without being annoying) She had self respect and didn't just fall into Rafe's crotch the minute he said "hello" She really made the book for me. Rafe I liked a little less than Alice. It took me a little time to warm to him. He was a player, and to be honest I am getting a little tired of the whole "sports hero player gig" that seems to be in almost EVERY sports romance written lately.

As much as I did enjoy this one, it did lose a star and a half for a few issues I had. There is a scene that annoyed me that involved another woman. Normally I don't concern myself with wondering about things that don't happen on the actual pages of the book (why bother right? If it was important to the story it would be included) That said there is a scene where Rafe leaves Alice to apparently go play "naked poker" with a woman whose ass he slapped earlier in front of Alice. The reason why I felt we needed clarification on whether he went back and played with the OW or not was because he was trying to present a non-player facade to Alice and if he did indeed go and play naked poker than he loses some points in my eyes for continuing his player ways while claiming to want Alice.

Another thing that made NO SENSE to me was the whole "Kristina" situation. Until 80% of the book I never got an inkling that she was in love with Rafe. Even when her and Alice have a conversation about Rafe and whether they have ever slept together, she says she is hung up on "someone else" Even when Andy was angry at Rafe because he has a thing for Kristina, I was SURE she was in love with someone different and Andy was wrong. In FACT I actually thought she was in love with Andy. Then BAM, at 80% she is declaring these feelings of love. It just seemed SO unnecessary since she was Alice's friend and never caused any tension or trouble over the course of the book. I honestly am still scratching my head over the whole point of that plotline. Lastly the whole revelation about Dutch was a little too out of left field for me. I mean one would think SOMEONE would have brought it up before the very end of the book. I am not sure why it needed to be this big secret.

So I know it sounds like a had a lot of problems with this one, but all those mentioned above where just annoyances in the big picture. I really did enjoy this one, and I really do enjoy this authors writing. I laughed my butt off SO many times. A hearty two thumbs up...

Do you trust me?

Well…do you trust me? I’m sure you’re all saying…sure Sassy, in a very superficial (here she goes again with her dribble about who knows what) way. Do you think we hear “Do you trust me?” – or- “Don’t you trust me?” too much? Are we handing over our trust without thought? Do we know a pilot before we board a plane and whether that man or woman deserves our trust? Or the driver in the car behind who may or may not have had enough sleep? I think we’ve stopped trusting in some respects and moved it to hope. We hope that the pilot/driver is deserving of the trust we put in them.

I think trust must be earned. Trust should come after a person has seen you at your best and been proud to know you. Seen you at your nastiest and trusted that you’ll eventually get over yourself. Seen you nervous and held your hand. The person who wipes your tears and gives you a hug even if the tears are only there because the navy blue handbag you’d been eyeing for months has sold out and is discontinued. The person I trust the most earned it because he can keep a straight face while I tell him about cockroaches with spray tans, love at first sight, "vegetarian" vampires, motorcycle men with soft spots and even Scottish highland lairds who find a wee lassie to wrap in his kilt. That's not the only reason why I trust my hubby, he's earned it in hundreds of ways on hundreds of days. Luckily my hubby loves me even if I am a book nerd…or maybe it’s because.

Ok, I did it again…I went off on a tangent that has practically nothing to do with the storyline…but it kind of does. How do you trust your heart to someone you think is too good for you or way out of your league? In Anything but Minor both the hero and the heroine have to learn to trust the feelings that have developed between them. When you’re looking at a woman who sets your heart alight, makes every day your best and thinks you are the best thing since sliced bread…how do you live up to that? When you’re looking at a man who has the opportunity of a lifetime away from you…how do you trust that he’s thinking about you as much as you’re thinking about him? Anything but Minor gets right to the heart of trusting someone and knowing whether you’ve put that trust in the right person.

You won’t believe this (after all that heavy stuff I just spouted) but this book is by far one of the funniest books I’ve read this year. More than once I had tears pouring out of my eyes I was laughing so hard. The main chick in this book, Alice is an absolute crack up. She is on a mission to make every day the best day of her life. After growing up in a house with a bitter, self-righteous single mother, Alice has had enough and decides to take a job in a different town to spread her wings. She wants to experience all the things she’s been too scared to try in fear that God will strike her down for wicked thoughts. Alice has been lonely up till now and with this new move she wants to meet new people and have new adventures. When looking for her next adventure she ends up at a ball park watching her first game of baseball. The pitcher is awesome and she can’t believe it when she meets him at a bar afterwards…and completely humiliates herself.

Rafe can’t believe this woman. She’s an absolute cutie and he wants her in a bad way. The things she does and says crack him up and make him feel things but he’s just about to get signed up for the majors and can’t afford to split his attentions. He tries to talk her into having a short term relationship aka a “quickie” but she wants no bar of him. Well, doesn’t she look a lot more appealing all of a sudden? He realises pretty quickly that he doesn’t want the short term relationship anymore, he wants every day to be their best day together.

Kate Stewart has again given us a brilliant story. Anything but Minor is funny, sweet, steamy and heartwarming. This was another story where my boys had to know why I'm laughing so hard? My oldest who is 13 does the whole, rolling his eyes...knowing it's a love story so it can't be THAT funny. My nearly 10-year-old doesn't have the eye rolls but he does have the thong ready to wack cockroaches that have snuck in and are really funny. Of course, hubby knew there was no way I'd be laughing if there was a cockroach in my bedroom. It’s not all fun and it’s not all serious, it’s a wonderful blend of both that left a smile on my face and my heart fluttering. This story is a winner…cockroaches with fake tans and all.

To buy Anything but Minor from Amazon - http://amzn.to/29ElkUM

I’m an Aussie chick who loves to read and review romance, drink coffee, be a Style Setter and stalk David Gandy. To see more of my reviews, fashion, food and pervathons -

Anything But Minor

by Kate Stewart

Anything But Minor

by Kate Stewart

Reviews

Eve1972

stacey_is_sassy